In Japan, disposable chopsticks (known as waribashi) are synonymous with everyday life. Whether it be ramen noodles at a neighbourhood restaurant to the pre-packaged bento boxes available at convenience stores, millions of people every day all throughout the land of the rising sun say itadakimasu before splitting open a pair of single-use chopsticks to enjoy dishes of various flavours and cultures.
In fact, according to an estimate by the Japanese government’s Forestry Agency, a whopping 25 billion pairs of waribashi are used annually in Japan. This means an average person in Japan uses roughly 200 pairs of waribashi every year.
Aiming to address and combat this issue is Japanese designer Keiji Ashizawa who took waribashi and upcycled it into a simple yet stunning lampshade.
“What do you do with your disposable chopsticks after eating?” asks Ashizawa. “Let’s ♻️ the 🥢 into 💡.”
The waribashi lampshade was conceived as part of an ongoing challenge set by Basketclub, where members weave a basket every month based on an emoji. For the month of June, the theme and emoji is ♻️.
All images in this article are courtesy of Keiji Ashizawa.
